


From a Tiny Seed

by VerdiWithin



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Crushes, F/M, Idiots in Love, Longing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21820099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerdiWithin/pseuds/VerdiWithin
Summary: Hades spends the day with his niece, and invites Persephone to join them.This is aTalismanstory, but out of sequence. It takes place around the time of Talisman 6.The rest of this series is locked to only registered users. If you're not registered with A03, get a free account! Many authors have locked their work to prevent theft from third-party apps.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Lore Olympus), Hera/Zeus
Comments: 15
Kudos: 133





	From a Tiny Seed

**Author's Note:**

> Persephone and Hades are just friends, and deep in mutual longing. Persephone is still in college, still living with Artemis, and still a potential Eternal Maiden.

I’m washing the dishes from my Saturday morning breakfast and my phone buzzes repeatedly. I dry my hands and pick it up, sure that it’s going to be something stupid that I really don’t care about. It’s four texts from Hera. I stand there with my phone in my hand, debating. Do I pretend I didn’t receive these? That might be for the best. While I’m thinking, the phone buzzes again with another one.

I sigh deeply. I’d better see what she wants.

_ Zeus and I are going to emergency counseling today _

_ It might take all day _

_ We really need this, I’m desperate _

_ Please, please, please can you take Hebe _

_ She’s been so down lately with all of our fighting and it’s you she wants to see _

I sigh again. There’s no one in Hera’s class when it comes to delivering a guilt trip. Another text comes in while I’m thinking:  _ I’m begging you. _

There’s no way I’m getting out of this, but more importantly, I don’t want my niece to suffer. I’m happy to do what I can for her. I text back: _ Fine. _

***

I load all the dogs in the car and try to think about what an eight-year old would consider fun. A movie, maybe? Or the park? That’s kind of mundane. Then I have an inspiration. What I need here is a third party’s opinion, someone who’s a lot more in touch with what’s fun than I am. I thumb my phone while I’m driving and place a call.

It rings twice and then I hear Persephone’s cheerful voice. “Hi, Hades!”

“How are you today, Kore?” I ask. Her voice makes me smile.

“I’m great, how about you?”

“Not bad. Listen, are you doing anything today? Because I’m going to pick up my niece and I was wondering if you’d like to hang out with us.”

“Oh. Well, I was just studying but it’s not pressing. Which niece?”

“Hebe. I was hoping you might have some ideas of something fun to do with her.”

“Sure, I can think of something.”

We make arrangements to meet after I pick up Hebe. I hang up, smiling. This day is looking brighter already.

***

“ _ Please _ remember this time that children need to eat frequently or they get cranky, and they get tired much earlier than you do,” Hera instructs.

“Understood. Food and rest, got it.”

“And no smoking around her, please.” Hera tucks her hair behind her ear. To my eyes, she seems to be dressed for a date rather than for counseling. Well, maybe she’s showing that she’s making an effort. It would be nice if my brother would do the same.

“Of course not. When do you expect to be done?”

“I really have no idea. Is it all right for you to keep her until tonight?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Uncle Hades!” shouts Hebe, descending the stairs at a run.

“Hello, Button!” I scoop her up and hug her. “I brought all the dogs this time!” 

She gasps. “ _ All _ of them? Where are they?” 

“Out in the car, waiting for you.”

I let her down and she runs out the door to see. Hera smiles and shakes her head. “Please remember that she has to ride in the back seat. It’s much safer for children.”

“Okay, I’ll remember this time.”

***

“So what are we doing today, Uncle Hades?” Hebe asks from the back seat, where she is piled with dogs.

“Well first, you’re putting on your seatbelt, young lady.” I wait while she does that. “Then, we’re going to pick up my friend.”

“Oh… is this your special friend?” Hebe asks.

“What do you mean?” 

“Mama says you have a  _ special _ friend. She means Persephone, even though she doesn’t say so.” 

Oh, great. This is just what I need. “She’s my friend, and I think she’s very special,” I say. I’m not sure where to go from there. What do eight-year-olds know about the agony of unrequited love? Or maybe semi-requited deeply angst-ridden passionate admiration? I don’t know anymore. 

“Persephone’s really nice. You should go out with her, Uncle Hades. She’s the  _ best _ at chess.”

“Yes, she is,” I reply. “Hebe, you know, Persephone’s supposed to become an eternal maiden. I can’t go out with her even if I wanted to.”

“Oh. Then how come we’re picking her up today?”

“Well, this is different. We’re all just going to have a fun day together. As friends.”

“Mama says there’s no way Persephone’s going to become one of those maiden goddesses. She says Persephone’s much too sensuous to be a maiden forever. What’s sensuous mean?”

“Um. It means… it means that someone likes to have fun.” I wince. I can just tell that one’s going to come back to bite me in the ass.

***

Persephone is ready outside when I pull up at Artemis’s house, and comes trotting over. She’s wearing a short, off-the-shoulder dress with her hair in a scruffy chop and she looks  _ adorable _ . Naturally. She bounces up to the car, barely giving me time to park before she opens the door and climbs in. 

“Hi Hebe!” she says. “How are you today?”

“I’m great, look, I have all these dogs!” Hebe crows.

“Lucky you!” Persephone says, reaching back to pet the dogs. Cerberus, dignified and upright in the backseat, leans his massive head over her shoulder. His tongue is lolling, and he’s completely fawning over her. Once again I find myself jealous of my dog.

After greeting each and every dog, even Cordon Bleu, Persephone finally turns to me. “Good morning, you. This is an unexpected pleasure.”

I smile. It was unexpected for me too, but I’m delighted to hear her say it’s a pleasure. 

“Are you sure we’re not taking you away from anything important?”

“Nope. I had midterms last week, and I’m caught up on my assignments, so really I don’t need to be studying. I thought maybe I would do some gardening today but this is even better.”

I grin at her. Being called  _ even better than gardening _ by the Goddess of Spring is quite an accolade. “Do you have any brilliant ideas for where to go?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

***

We pull up outside Six Columns Great Olympus and Hebe just about loses her mind. 

“We’re going here? To the amusement park? You are the best uncle ever!” She unfastens her seatbelt and launches herself at the back of my seat, seizing me around the neck in a fierce hug that deprives me of air for several seconds. 

Persephone laughs. “Hebe, you’re choking him.”

“Sorry, Uncle Hades! Can we go in now?”

“Of course we can, Button.”

We get out and leash all the dogs. Hebe wants to take some of them, so I let her have Fudge and Big John, who are probably the gentlest. Persephone also holds out her hand, so I let her choose. She takes JP and Cordon Bleu. 

“Okay,” I say. “But watch out for CB. It takes him a really long time to warm up to people.”

“He and I understand each other,” Persephone informs me. “And I am determined to make him like me.”

“Good luck,” I tell her. Though really, if anyone can do it, she can.

The pimply young satyr in the admissions booth accepts my payment for two adults and one child. He leans way out of his window and slowly examines the dogs. I wonder if he’s counting them, or what.

“Dogs have to stay on leashes, sir,” he says.

“That’s fine,” I tell him. “The regular dogs will. However, this one here is Cerberus. He’s not an ordinary dog. He does not go on a leash. Not ever.”

The young satyr draws breath to argue with me and then pauses, wide-eyed. “Did you say  _ Cerberus _ ?”

“I did.”

“Oh. Um. I guess that’s okay then.” He hands me our tickets. “Have a nice day, sir.”

***

“What do you want to do first, Hebe?”

“Can I get one of those?” she points at a booth selling hot fried cake things. 

I think they look greasy and terrible, but Persephone makes a slight involuntary noise. She’s wide-eyed and visibly sniffing the air, inhaling the scent of powdered sugar and cooking oil.

I walk up to the booth and buy two. I bring them back and hand one to Hebe, and one to Persephone. 

“Thanks, Uncle Hades!” Hebe cheers, and runs over to look at a display of t-shirts. Fudge and JP go happily with her, clearly hoping that she’ll share her treat with them.

Persephone takes the cake I offer her, splits it into halves, and gives me one. We both say thank-you at the same time, and laugh. We turn to follow Hebe, walking more sedately, munching on the hot, sweet cake. I’m surprised to find that it’s quite good.

In a minute Hebe comes running back. “Can I go on the carousel?” 

“Sure,” I reply.

Persephone and I wait by the fence and watch Hebe go round and round, riding a purple chimera. The weird, tinny music is starting to get to me.

“Chimeras aren’t actually purple,” I say. Where did that come from?

“No?” Persephone smiles. “What color are they?”

“They’re usually kind of bronze or brown. Except the miniature ones. They’re reddish.”

“Really? Do they make good pets?”

I frown doubtfully. “It’s probably a bad idea to keep a fire-breathing animal around--” I catch the look on Persephone’s face. She’s teasing me. “Oh,” I say. “Right, biology major. You could probably tell me every detail of how chimeras work.”

She shrugs a little, being generous. “I know a lot more about plants than about animals. Do you know they can breathe fire because of the plants they eat? Their bodies extract flammable gas from them.”

“No, are you serious?” That doesn’t sound plausible to me.

“Mm-hmm. It’s called fire thistle and it contains a lot of free hydrogen.” She looks up at me with big eyes full of sincerity, and finishes the last bite of her cake. I’m almost certain she’s making this up on the spot.

Hebe comes galloping back, full of energy, and insists on taking me on the roller coaster. I’m not thrilled about this, but I should have expected it. “Go ahead,” Persephone says, and takes my leashes. 

“Your turn next,” I tell her.

***

Hebe wants to ride every single ride, and gets upset when she realizes that she’s too small for some of them. She obtains a map of the park from somewhere, and Persephone loans her a pen. She’s marking off each ride she does with a big check-mark, and X-ing out the ones she can’t ride. Persephone and I take turns going with her, except for the few that are so low-key that she can ride by herself.

We’ve worked our way through an entire wing of the park when it becomes obvious to me that this kid needs some food. She’s getting wilder and more frenetic, and I see now what Hera meant. I spot a food pavilion with tables outside. 

“Let’s get some lunch!” I say. 

Hebe is feeding some goats and donkeys in the petting zoo area and doesn’t want to be torn away. “Just a minute!” she says.

I turn to Persephone. “I think she needs food. Do you mind if I go and start ordering something?”

“Not at all. We’ll find a table once she’s ready to move on.”

“Do you want anything in particular?”

She shrugs. “I imagine they don’t have a lot of vegetarian stuff. I trust you.”

The choices actually aren’t so bad, if grossly overpriced. Oh well. I order some toasted cheese sandwiches and a bucket of fries. And a fruit cup, as a concession to Hera, who will no doubt be annoyed by all the crap I’m feeding to her daughter. I carry all this outside and find my companions waiting at a table under a shady umbrella.

“Ooh, yummy,” says Hebe in approval, diving into the fries.

“Don’t worry, she washed her hands,” Persephone says, catching the look in my eyes.

“Is there anything to drink, Uncle Hades?” Hebe asks.

“Oh, I forgot that. What would you like, Button?”

“Can I have chocolate milk? Or juice?”

“Sure,” I say. I look inquiringly at Persephone.

“Water is fine,” she says.

When I return with the drinks, Hebe is munching on her sandwich and telling Persephone about how I got Mushroom. I’m surprised she remembers that story, she was very young at the time.

“And then the mean mortal said he didn’t want a stupid dog anyways because he eats way too much so Uncle Hades took Mushroom away and they all lived happily ever after. The End!” says Hebe in a sing-song.

Mushroom is sitting on the ground between Hebe’s and Persephone’s seats, panting cheerfully, hopeful of getting some of their food. He does, in fact, eat quite a lot.

“That’s a great story,” Persephone comments, swallowing a bite of sandwich. “I did wonder how you ended up with so many dogs all at once. So you rescued them all?” 

“More or less,” I say. I don’t want to get into it. It seems like bragging. “I don’t usually have  _ this _ many. It just sort of happened, I guess.”

Persephone nods. “Pets have a way of doing that. One time I found a whole litter of gerbils who had lost their mother. I had to bottle-feed them for weeks.”

“How  _ many _ gerbils?” gasps Hebe.

“Five,” Persephone tells her.

“Wow! Gerbils are so cute!”

“They’re kind of weird looking when they’re babies, before they grow fur. But yes, they’re cute.”

“How old were you?” I ask.

“I think I was about Hebe’s age,” Persephone replies.

“You must have been very patient, to take care of five baby gerbils at that age,” I say. I glance at Hebe. She’s swinging her legs vigorously and looking off at the nearby rides she hasn’t done yet. I can’t picture her being that responsible, not yet anyway.

“I guess. I think it’s just different, growing up in the Mortal Realm. There are fewer distractions.” 

I nod. I know what she means. 

Hebe is still absorbed with looking around. She reaches out her hand for her chocolate milk, without looking, and knocks it over. The milk floods over the table and splashes down on my thigh. I flinch away, but it’s too late, it’s all over my trousers. 

Persephone jumps up immediately, seizing the pile of napkins on the table, and starts dabbing at the liquid on my leg. I freeze in mild shock.

“Oh, Uncle Hades, I’m so sorry!” cries Hebe, running around the table to inspect the damage. She wrings her hands in chagrin.

“Don’t worry about it, Button. Can you go get some more napkins?” She runs off to do so.

I watch Persephone. I want to tell her she doesn’t need to do this service for me, but she’s touching me, and I don’t want her to stop. Actually, it belatedly occurs to me, if she doesn’t stop looking at that region she’s going to learn something about me that I’d rather she didn’t.

“You don’t have to do that,” I say weakly.

“Oh--sorry.” Persephone backs off, still holding a wad of damp napkins. 

She’s flushed and I imagine it’s also occurred to her that she was touching me in a rather personal way. I feel like a complete ass. Surely I could have handled that better, not left her feeling embarrassed when all she was trying to do was be helpful.

Hebe runs back with an enormous bunch of napkins.

“Thanks,” I say. 

“I’m really sorry, Uncle Hades! Mama says I have to pay more attention to what I’m doing.”

“It’s okay, it was just an accident. Why don’t you finish your lunch?”

I dab at my trousers with a dampened napkin. Fortunately, they’re dark, so I don’t think it will look too awful.

***

Hebe demands to ride yet more of these rickety, nausea-inducing whirligigs. I don’t know how she can stomach it after all that food she ate. Fortunately the area of the park where we are now has a lot of gentler rides that we can send her on by herself. I wouldn’t really want to risk it.

Persephone and I find a dog-watering station outside one of these rides, and watch while the dogs lap eagerly. It’s a warm day and they need it. I’m surprised to see that Cordon Bleu is being at least polite to Persephone. I find that I’m ridiculously pleased about that.

“Oh, look,” Persephone points. “They have one of those wheel things. That’s nice and calm. We can all do that together.”

I look at the huge wheel. Its cars are little closed pods, not the kind with open fronts. I suppose we can take the dogs with us, and it’s a sedate sort of ride.

“Sure,” I say. “Let’s do that.”

***

The view from the top of the wheel is quite pleasant, and the breeze is refreshing. The dogs take the opportunity to lie down and have a brief nap. Hebe and Persephone look down at the park, pointing out to each other the places we’ve already visited.

“Look, Uncle Hades, I can see your car!” says Hebe.

“Can you see your house from up here?” Persephone asks.

“Maybe?” Hebe says. She shades her eyes and looks off in the wrong direction.

I smile. Watching the two of them together makes me feel warm and happy inside. It’s not a feeling I’m used to.

When we exit the wheel ride, Hebe grabs my hand with one of hers, and Persephone’s with the other. She skips along between us as we walk, swinging our arms, looking for the next ride that she wants to try.

“Are you having a good time, Hebe?” Persephone asks.

“Yes!” my niece replies enthusiastically. “I’m sensuous!”

“What?” says Persephone, startled.

“I’m sensuous! That means someone who likes to have fun. Right, Uncle Hades?”

“Um--” 

Hebe spots a face-painting station and runs off gleefully. Persephone looks at me for just a moment, and then away. I think I see a tiny flicker of laughter in her face, but I can’t be sure.

***

“I want to get a prize!” Hebe shouts, pointing at one of the contest booths. It’s draped with a huge number of large, cheap-looking toys. She bounces excitedly in front of the booth, her tiger-striped face split with a delirious grin. “Uncle Hades, can you win me a prize?”

“I can try.” I check out the booth. It looks like the goal is to throw a ball into a cup. That seems simple enough. I pay for a round and take the balls, tossing one just so. It bounces off the rim of the cup, falling outside. Great. I can tell this is going to be embarrassing. I get only one of my balls into the cup, and the rules state you have to get three.

I glare at the young daimon running the booth as I pay for another round, and he grins nervously at me. Hebe is still hopping up and down in excitement. Persephone stands behind her, holding all the dogs, smiling at me with gentle confidence.

Okay, I have to do this. I really don’t want to look like an idiot in front of the goddess I admire so much. I focus on the target, and shut out all the noises around me. I aim carefully and toss the ball underhand. It goes right in. Two more to go. I ready the next one, toss it, and it joins the first in the cup.

“Yay!” cheers Hebe. “You can do it, Uncle Hades!”

I smile a little, and toss the third ball. It rolls lazily around the rim of the cup, tormenting me with its indecision, and finally falls to the outside. Damn. I have to make the fourth one, or I’ll lose.

I take a long slow breath and release it. I toss the ball. It goes directly into the cup and I sigh in relief. Hebe claps and cheers and bounces wildly. I smile at Persephone and she smiles back.

Hebe chooses a weird-looking stuffed hydra as her prize. It’s green and gold and so big it fills her arms. She runs over to show it to some other children nearby. “Look! I have a stuffed hydra! Isn’t it soft! My uncle won it for me!” she hollers.

Persephone and I follow after. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that hydras aren’t actually that color?” she inquires sweetly.

I feel my cheeks warm. They’re not, but I wouldn’t dare say so.

“Uncle Hades!” Hebe shouts. “Can I get cotton candy?”

***

When Hebe finally runs out of steam, naturally we’re in the farthest reaches of the park. She and Persephone come back from riding a spinny-thing, and Hebe looks dizzy and exhausted. 

“Can we sit down somewhere? I’m tired,” she says, and yawns widely. 

I exchange a look with Persephone.

“How about we go home, Button?” I say.

“Aw!” Hebe whines. “I don’t wanna go home! There’s gonna be fireworks!” 

“Maybe we could just go back to the entrance area. I think there were some benches there,” Persephone suggests.

“Okay,” Hebe says. We start walking, splitting up the dogs as before. Instead of running ahead of us, as she has all day, Hebe drags along behind. It’s going to take forever at this rate.

“Would you like me to carry you, Hebe?” I ask.

She just holds up her arms in answer, yawning again. I pick her up and hold her against my shoulder. Persephone extracts the two leashes from Hebe’s sticky grasp, and takes mine too, rearranging all six into one hand. She tucks the stuffed hydra under her other arm.

We set off for the distant entrance. Hebe is already quiet and limp. I pitch my voice low so as not to disturb her.

“Have you had a nice day?” I ask Persephone.

She smiles widely. “Yes, very. I hope you did, too. You’ve been such a good sport.”

“What, just for paying for a kid to have a day out? That’s not so much.”

Persephone shakes her head seriously, refusing to be misunderstood “I mean it. Hebe’s lucky to have an uncle like you. You’re very patient and kind.”

I frown uncomfortably. I don’t think of myself in those terms often. Or at all, really.

“Well,” I say. “I’m glad you came with us. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.”

Persephone smiles. “Me too! Thank you for inviting me. I’ve had a wonderful time.”

It’s getting dark by the time we return to the entrance.

“What do you think?” I ask Persephone. “Is she asleep enough that we can risk putting her in the car?”

“I’m not sure. She seems to be just dozing.”

“Well, I have an idea.”

We exit the park and find the car. I give Persephone the keys and explain how to raise the convertible roof, which she does. Then I carefully place Hebe down in the back seat.

“No! Fireworks!” she protests sleepily.

“Listen, Button. We can see the fireworks from right here. You curl up and get comfortable, and they’ll start in half an hour. Okay?”

She thinks it over. “Okay.” She settles down with the dogs, who are also in the mood for a nap. Persephone and I sit in the front seat.

“You’ve given up your whole day for this,” I say. “Shouldn’t I take you home now? I can bring Hebe back, we won’t miss much.”

“What?” She looks startled. “I don’t want to miss the fireworks, either.”

Persephone amazes me. She called  _ me _ patient and kind, but really it’s herself she was describing. Also beautiful, brilliant, and strong. I smile in the dark, and sit waiting for the fireworks to begin.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Red for beta reading, and my husband for the name of the park.
> 
> I wrote this for the Facebook Lore Olympus Fan Group Holiday Gift Exchange. For KS.


End file.
